Cutting choices

adne

Have rented 10 acres of meadow last minute. Have took it forthe next few years.
Not sure whats my best approach to get as much from it as possible.

There is about 1/3 of a crop on it at the minute, thinking of letting it grow for another2 weeks without fertilizer and then wrap it up.
Then bag with CAN and take another cut at end of july, bag again and hope for a third cut in late sept.

Thinking if the weather came in 2 weeks could get hay as it wont be heavy.

What do people think is best approach.

iverjohnston

Sounds good enough plan. If you are sure you have it for 3 or 4 years is it worth freshening it up with a reseed this autumn? Or have you sheep/ cattle to run on it in the back end?

PMU

a bag of can? stop wasting grass,put out 3 bags of can for the second cut ,plus P and K

restive

PMU wrote: »

a bag of can? stop wasting grass,put out 3 bags of can for the second cut ,plus P and K

How much total npk to the acre?

adne

PMU wrote: »

a bag of can? stop wasting grass,put out 3 bags of can for the second cut ,plus P and K

I did not say a bag of can, i said bag with can. There is a difference in my localised language :P

adne

iverjohnston wrote: »

Sounds good enough plan. If you are sure you have it for 3 or 4 years is it worth freshening it up with a reseed this autumn? Or have you sheep/ cattle to run on it in the back end?

Could b a plan come autumn, all weather dependant

just do it

restive wrote: »

How much total npk to the acre?

Can only be answered by a soil test.

freedominacup

Cut now.Get it soil tested asap. Put out a load (20 tonnes) of lime if you're sure you have it for 4 years. Apply fert as normal for second cut. If it's badly short of something you can put it on in a week or two when results are in. If it's accessible and close enough to you put out 2k gals slurry/acre. A stitched in re-seed will cost you €50/acre plus seed and spray.

adne

freedominacup wrote: »

Cut now.Get it soil tested asap. Put out a load (20 tonnes) of lime if you're sure you have it for 4 years. Apply fert as normal for second cut. If it's badly short of something you can put it on in a week or two when results are in. If it's accessible and close enough to you put out 2k gals slurry/acre. A stitched in re-seed will cost you €50/acre plus seed and spray.

I would not like to put lime out if I'm planning on cutting again within 7 weeks,

freedominacup

adne wrote: »

I would not like to put lime out if I'm planning on cutting again within 7 weeks,

larthehar

adne wrote: »

I would not like to put lime out if I'm planning on cutting again within 7 weeks,

if you want fast action of lime i would chance the granlime, personally speaking I have seen fantastic results. I would go with the normal lime in the fall of the year then. I know it is slightly more costly but you will see the results in the grass. Granlime works in two weeks, Aglime is 6months+...

freedominacup

larthehar wrote: »

if you want fast action of lime i would chance the granlime, personally speaking I have seen fantastic results. I would go with the normal lime in the fall of the year then. I know it is slightly more costly but you will see the results in the grass. Granlime works in two weeks, Aglime is 6months+...

Lime will do no harm ar worst. It can be gotten on now how trafficable will this ground be if we get a wet back-end?

adne

freedominacup wrote: »

Lime will do no harm ar worst. It can be gotten on now how trafficable will this ground be if we get a wet back-end?

I would not agree, what happens if we got a dry spell over the 7 weeks, the lime would still be on the ground and affect the silage preservation, too much of a gamble imo. Regardlessit takes up to 6 mths for ground to reap the benefits of lime so no panic

JohnBoy

we put lime out at the end of january and I was surprised how long it took for the visible lime to fully wash in.

I wouldnt be spreading it on ground I wanted to cut in a few weeks, all that ground limestone in the pit would surely have a certain neutralising effect.